[ad_1]
In the words of one tour guide, it was like seeing long-lost family.
Officials, professionals, hula dancers and business owners welcomed the return of Japan Airlines’ first nonstop flight from Tokyo to the Big Island since 2020 to Kona on Tuesday, August 2.
The plane carrying 177 passengers has returned to international travel, marking the end of the epidemic.
“It’s just the beginning,” he said at a welcome ceremony at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Kehole. “Another step forward in the economic recovery after the epidemic.”
While Hawaii’s tourism numbers have rebounded since 2020, international tourism, particularly visitors from Japan, has been slow to recover. In the first half of 2022, there were 34,925 visitors from Japan, compared to 734,235 in 2019. Their return will boost Hawaii’s economy.
Visitors spent $86.7 million in the first half of 2022. That compares to $1.03 billion in the first half of 2019, the year before the pandemic.
“When Japan Airlines returns, we can expect tens of thousands of tourists to visit the beautiful Big Island,” Ige said.
Ige and several other people greeted the visitors as they disembarked from the giant red and white plane. International tourists are cleared at the airport’s new $58.7 million federal inspection services facility. As they stepped outside the building, they were greeted with music, dancing and Hawaiian and Japanese-based businesses offering samples of their coffee or recipes.
John De Vries, CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said it’s special that the island states are returning after decades of sharing bonds. Seeing them again was a homecoming.
“It’s like welcoming a home family after a long absence,” he said.
Mayor Mitch Roth was on the flight. On his way back from Japan, he visited Hawaii’s sister cities and saw that the Japanese love for hula and Hawaiian culture was being shown in awe throughout the country.
As for flying, it was equally impressive.
“Even in the economy, we were treated as first class,” Roth said.
[ad_2]
Source link
